Budget wedding

Yes you can! get a lot of items you need from the fb group called gta weddings something. brides sell all their stuff like decor shoes dresses everything for so cheap!!

View quoted message Thanks for all those tips! Looking into how much I can diy

View quoted message I used a “non traditional” venue. By renting the banquet hall at holiday inn, it allowed us to go and decorate the room freely - no restrictions. They also have a full kitchen so we got them to do the food as well (30$ per person for a 4 course meal).

I did a lot of DIY for the decor - buying the Cricut was an investment for me.

Our officiant was Sherry Harris and she was efficient and relatively cheaper than others in the region.

Luckily a friend of ours hired our photographer. But if you were interested her name is Line Tan Photographe/r (look her up on Facebook). She took amazing photos and it’s a part-time job for her so doesnt cost an arm and leg like most photographers who do this full time.

My brother and his friend also took care of music and all. Try seeing if you have any friends who know how to DJ, and get a close friend to be the MC.

If you’re on a budget, avoid open bars. We did a cash bar and bought all of our guests 1 drink.

My favours i did myself. I bought small “message in a bottle” style bottles from amazon and filled them up with mini m&ms. I then cut out hearts and wrote “thank you” with our names and wedding date, tied those around the bottleneck and glued with a small bow from Michaels.


My bouquets were bought from Michaels (premade and on sale at 2/1) and i added white ribbons and a big blue bow.

My best advice, to lower costs its always best to do it yourself. You can hunt for the best price.

View quoted message Wow, I'm also in Ottawa and struggling to stay under $10,000. My venue with food is $6,000.
Could you share some vendors you used?

Thank you Candace. May I ask you where is this venue?

My fiancé and I are doing a 120 guest wedding for $11,000 before the cost of the open bar so it’s for sure doable!
Depending on your vision you can most likely find a venue that includes a few things in your rental package and then budget everything else from there.
We had our ceremony and reception at the same venue. We get the location for $1600 but it includes a day of coordinator, a back up plan in case it rains, tables, chairs, basic linens (3 options for tablecloth colour and lots of napkin colours), tear down and set up, bartender, wait staff, bride and grooms hotel room for the night of the wedding (king suite at the hotel that is 10 steps from the grand hall), bridal suite for getting ready, breakfast next day, grounds for taking photos, rehearsal space, parking, food tasting, and reserves their chef for our wedding day.
After that it’s just food/drink costs through them and then the other vendors which we found all within our budget. You can for sure do it, just have to look and be very thorough

Its totally possible to do it for $12,000 and under.I suggest finding the venue first depending where you live I can recommend a few budget friendly options in the metrovancouver area.Next step would be deciding if you want a DJ and photographer or a play list and friends with cameras.We hired a husband and wife DJ and photographer team for an amazing price.

Keep an eye out on wedding dress sales or see if a family member can make you one or even find something fancy from a regular store.Price out the cost of linens and decide if you will rent or buy them.I bought all of our chair sashes and table cloths for $300 on amazon and will sell them after the wedding.

We plan on putting the money from all of our wedding decor sales into a family travel fund.Do a lot of the work yourself and you will stay well under budget. I’m planning ours over a year and a half in advance but it will be my dream wedding under budget.

Just a thought, my cousin had her wedding on a Thursday. The venue was significantly cheaper, and other services were easier to book. Good luck!

You can for sure keep your budget of $12,000 but i think you have to be firm in deciding what you really want. If you are planning on making the food yourself then you have to rule out venues that don't allow outside food or only the use of their catering. Many venues don't allow you to bring in your own alcohol or if they do, they will charge a fee, ie corking fee. Not having a DJ, cake, real flowers are ways you can save money. I would look into the restaurant idea.

I’m in Ottawa and my wedding is going to cost me 7,500$ total (including catering, dress, venue, etc..)

You sound like you're a little overwhelmed, and that's perfectly normal! My suggestion is to book your venue first - it's one of the priciest things and will dictate (or at least narrow down) most of your other options. Also, check out the Wedding Wire checklist. Ignore stuff that doesn't apply to you, but it can really help to focus your thoughts on priorities.

If you don't care about partying into the wee hours, you should be able to book a city park/facility for a small fee. Usually you can get an SOP (special occasion permit) to be able to serve your own booze (but it has to come from the LCBO). Th event has to be done by 11pm though.

There are a ton of wedding venues that are all-inclusive, which is great in the sense that you don't have to rent a bunch of stuff, but you may find that you don't need all that's included making it a more expensive option.

Have you thought about a restaurant? It can be surprisingly inexpensive and, if they have a pretty patio, you could get that outdoor vibe you're looking for.

Good luck! And don't forget to breathe. You got this!

Wow $7,000 is awesome. I don't know if that's doable in toronto tho. I totally agree with not having a DJ, I think they cause too much attention to themselve, especially if I'm only gonna have 50 guests it's more intimate and I guess we just need a nice selection of music for setting a happy mood. I think I should start hiring also but I don't know which one to do first and where to start. These venues that I contacted like Casa Loma are not getting back to me and I think it's better if I call or go there myself. So you think for the flower it's cheaper to hire a decorator? I never thought about the "taking it down" part that you mentioned. I guess we can't leave everything to the venue to clean up unless we pay them which that probably gonna be costly. I was thinking to bring my own food like maybe make everything at home and use their kitchen to warm up and the salads and deserts are already ready, then maybe if the venue agrees use their servers and stuff.
But honestly 50 guests, I don't even think we need servers but bartender we definitely need I think.
Can you please tell me whats the main priority for Wedding? Is it ordering dress? Booking venue? Hiring florists and photographers? Which ones comes first?

You absolutely can do it!! We have planned our wedding in under $7,000 total and we live in Saskatoon, SK

the most expensive thing is food, and anything after that is extra. we don't have a DJ which saved us a lot of money , and our decorations are mostly DIY but simple and beautiful.

You can totally do it!
I have 100 people so far and my budget is $20,000-$23,000. Obviously I'm hoping to stay with that, but we decided to go with a good caterer (because lots of people remember the food... or at least my family/friends do lol) so that was more then what I wanted.
We hired 2 bartenders and drink server from 2pm-12am for $500... we are bottling our own wine, and are having limited hard alcohol drinks, so we figure $1000 in booze. Don't do fancy drinks.... then you gotta buy mixes and such. We are doing a toonie bar.

My only advice, is price out EVERYTHING! I was going to purchase/make all my own decorations (example: my centre pieces were going to cost me $30 each to make, and my time..... my decorator is charging $18 to rent)..... it turned out to be cheaper to hire a decorator - and it was less stress on me because I don't have to worry about myself or family setting it up and taking it down.

Try doing a fake cake as well to save costs - we are doing a fake cake that has a little empty space for a real slice to be placed in there for cake cutting - then our guests are getting an assortment of cakes, pastries, and pies from our caterer.

There's so many ways to cut costs - you just gotta keep searching! Just be open minded, even if it means hiring someone.

100% doable as long as you have realistic expectations. Have you began planning? I see that you're wedding date is coming up in July, so I hope you're on your way planning!

Very much doable!!

My budget for our wedding is $20,000 but our guest list is 250!!

The main costs are; venue, food, and booze. The rest can get cut down as long as you don't go and buy a $5000 dress or something crazy like that which will eat up your budget.

Thanks Becky, I really appreciate your input. The thing is that I want the wedding to be an outdoor one in a very nice outdoor venue but with a reasonable price. Like you said one that has kitchen and everything. But I'm not digging the community center wedding idea I do want to save and I have a limited budget but when you say community a small church or mosque forms in my head with not a lot of that big land and beautiful views. I really want to look into this sample sale for Wedding dress I never heard of it before. Cash bar seems a bit too cheap I'm not sure about it. I can buy my own wine and drinks and ask the bartender at the vendor if he'll serve them for my guests?

It depends on what your expectations of the wedding are and what you all want. I would find a place to rent that is not too expensive. Supplies the chairs and tables and in the kitchen has everything needed. If you go with a community center. Most have ladies that cook for you and do it a lot cheaper - plates are $15-18 and you keep leftovers. Don't go crazy on decor pick something nice but simple. Do a sample sale for a dress, rent for suit, have smaller wedding party to cut costs on gifts and flowers. Have a cash bar, it is possible just need to make a list of must have vs not needed